So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth… New King James Version How easy to be lukewarm or mellow! We don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings, step on another’s toes! We want to be liked by the community around,…
The Emperor’s New Clothes..!
Once upon a time, so the old tale goes, there lived an emperor who wanted to stitch himself the fanciest set of clothes in his kingdom. So he called the best tailors and asked them if they would stitch them for him, and even offered to pay a million rupees…
Cyrus, A Martyr..!
There’s enough that’s been written about the car crash that took the life of billionaire Cyrus Mistry, and I’m not going to wade into those already muddied waters. However, something that struck me as I read our transport minister’s statement after the accident, was the sudden focus on using seat…
Whose Health?
The road runs wide through the extended city of Greater Mumbai, till, just before it enters the same city, it narrows into a street, meanders and twists reluctantly past posh homes, leaning balconies, where liveried residents, inside air-conditioned flats grimace disdainfully as they peer at traffic jams below, causing exhaust…
Dirt On Your Finger..!
An item in the newspaper had me sadly amused. A lady doctor who runs a pain clinic, told the press how she saw a destitute woman bleeding profusely on the pavement outside her gym. “She was bleeding profusely, it was all over the pavement and flowing onto the road. I…
Singing A State Anthem..!
With ‘son’s of the soil’ not meaning you are an Indian, but giving you certain privileges only if you belong to that particular state, I realized most states are thinking they are nations by themselves. I imagined, the cultural chief of a state department smiling to glory and whistling a…
Best Measuring Instruments In the World..!
Have always been puzzled how the government knows when a loudspeaker is too loud or a plastic bag too thick, so since the government is now hellbent on enforcing the plastic ban I thought I’d check the instruments issued to measure the thickness of plastic bags. I met a municipal…
Using The Bathtub Again..!
Over three decades ago I installed a bathtub at home, and with bubble bath suds sent from the US by my mother I enjoyed the relaxation it gave my tired body, and quite often read a book after work while soaking in the comfort giving warmth. It was a luxury…
It’s Two Men, No, One..!
Quite often some public figure like Trump or many in our own country caught in the public glare while having a rollicking time with someone other than their wife, exclaim, “Leave my private life alone!” What they mean is that they’ve got two lives, one for the public eye and…
Battle of the Extra Pappadam..!
It was not joyful drumbeats and rhythmic cymbals at the wedding in Alappuzha district in Kerala, no, t’was the sound of huge cooking vessels, dishes, water kettles and serving spoons being brandished and hurled in the battle for the extra pappadam! And at a celebration, generally one of happiness and…
Robert Clements is a newspaper columnist and writes a daily column, which has graced the pages of over 60 newspapers and magazines, from a daily column in the Khaleej Times, Dubai, the Morning Star, London, and in nearly every state in India, from The Statesman in Kolkata, to the Kashmir Times in Kashmir to the Trinity Mirror in Chennai.